What nutritional values do apples have for horses?
Mine seem to like the green apples better than the red. Is there a difference in nutrients, vitamins or does the taste make the difference? Lol

I am moreover inquisitive about washing store bought apples. Is it necessary to wash them prior to feeding them to horses? I wash them before eating them.
Are there known health risks induced by the chemicals?

Well... usually I don't even wash my own apples before I eat them, so I certainly have never washed them for my horse, and we're both still alive. Yes, I know I probably should, but, oh well... YMMV. I don't think there is any significant nutritional difference between different colors or types of apples, just taste mostly. :)

That is funny. I used to have a mare that preferred Macintosh apples over any other kind. She would salivate like crazy while eating them but would paw and beg for more. She must have preferred a tart apple to a sweet one. Ha ha

I do wash apples because of the pesticides on them. At least give them a good rub on your shirt or something. Ha ha

Nah, I feed them whole, apple seeds will not hurt a horse (or a human for that matter). Yes, they do have cyanide type compounds in them, but a horse or human would have to literally eat pounds of just apple seeds for it to be enough to cause an issue. By "whole," I suppose I really mean, he gets bites off an apple that I am done with. Unless we're at an endurance ride, where he does get them just dropped into his bucket, and he takes bites off of them himself. I always think it's funny how slobbery he gets if he eats more than a bite or two. Nutritionally, apples have some sugar and fiber, but horses have to eat quite a few to cause an issue, though like anything, too many at once can make them colicy (say, turning them out in a paddock with fruit trees and dropped fruit on the ground).

No, the pesticides used on apples, and most other fruit, are at far too low of a level and the wrong type to be 'helpful' in that way. :)

The only thing we keep in mind is that some horses will try to eat them in too large of pieces - instead of biting off pieces, they try to just eat 1/2 or 3/4 of it all at once. Choking is a risk IMHO.

Accordingly, we usually cut them up, or hold onto them tightly and force them to take smaller bites.

Depends on the size of the apple. When I went out and picked wild apples and they were less than half the size of a normal apple I fed the whole thing, but with normal apples I usually bite or cut off chunks and give them. Though these days I usually feed carrots. I wash everything I give to my horse, im a little to paranoid of pesticide and poison.

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